Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Fall 2019 | Page 4

RING THE VICTORY
The Story of a
Time-Honored
TA Tradition
s the final seconds ticked down on the opening game
of the 1947 football season, first-year Thornton
Academy head coach Edward Loring could not help
but feel a strong degree of satisfaction. Loring had
inherited a team that had been winless the previous season
and only mustered a total of 13 points on offense during the
entire campaign. The 1946 squad had been shut out in seven
of their nine contests and the only “highlight” of that fall was
a 0-0 tie against rival Biddeford.
A
When the final whistle blew to signal Thornton’s 20-6 victory
against visiting Rockland High School, Loring gathered
his players and marched them from the field (located at the
current site of the Saco Rite Aid) to the main campus building
on the west side of Main Street. He led them through the
front entrance, instructed them to remove their cleats, and
follow him up a stairwell toward the science laboratories on
the second floor. Loring instructed team members to open
the door, climb up the stairs, and pull on the rope attached
to the academy’s school bell to celebrate the victory and
signal the team’s success to home and visiting fans alike.
Loring, who would leave Thornton Academy two
years later to become a successful teacher and coach in
Framingham, Massachusetts, initiated a practice that has
become an integral part of Thornton Academy athletics.
As TA mathematics department head and longtime football
coach Jack Morrison ’74 notes, the time-honored ritual
of ringing the bell is firmly linked to the school’s sense
of place. “There is a reason we intentionally maintain
traditions,” observes Morrison. “It’s because they bring
meaning to our celebrations, giving us a sense of belonging.
Ringing the Victory Bell is a part of our culture that has been
passed from person to person, generation to generation.”
The story of the Victory Bell traces its origins four years
before the school sponsored its first athletic team. When
Thornton reopened on its current Main Street campus in
September of 1889, one of the features adorning the tower
on the south end of the school building was once described
as “a large and handsome bell.” Manufactured in a foundry
in West Troy, New York and transported to Saco by train,
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Story by Gary Stevens · Photos Courtesy of TA Staff